The present invention relates to the treatment and preservation of live bivalve molluscs and in particular, oysters, clams or the like.
These molluscs have a shell defining a cavity in which is retained water constituting the element necessary to the life of the mollusc, the water being regularly renewed when the mollusc is located in its natural aquatic medium by the partial opening of the shell.
When the water is not renewed, the excrements in the shell pollute the water in particular by the fecal coliforms which render the water unfit for consumption.
Further, in the absence of a renewal of the water for a prolonged period of time the mollusc dies.
These phenomena present problems of the treatment of the fecal coliforms during transportation and preservation of such molluscs.
At the present time, molluscs such as oysters, are transported and stored in small cages for example, i.e. a light apertured packing assembled by clipping together, having a perpendicular horizontal section to allow these small cages to be stacked and having a rectangular or trapezoidal vertical section to allow the small cages to be fitted one inside the other when empty.
With such a preserving method for transportation, the molluscs for example the oysters can remain alive for about fifteen days. However, the water contained within the shells of the oysters upon packing is not renewable and this results in an increase in the coliforms contained within the oyster, i.e. a pollution which in the end is liable to render them dangerous for consumption.